Welcome... and enter at your own risk

Well, I decided we'd best have a little something so everyone could see how the "Great Education Experiment of 2005" was working out. I'll try to post here often so you can all keep up with Charlie's (and mine, and Kayla's, and Todd's) adventures with the Vitual Academy. It's my first experience with "blogging", so be patient with me while I learn.

For those of you not quite sure what the heck I'm talking about... we have begun the enrollment process for Charlie with Colorado Virtual Academy, due to some issues we have with the school district. (Not just the uniforms, although that's part of it!) COVA is an online based charter school run through Adams County Public Schools. As it is a public school, there are plenty of rules we have to follow, such as logging hours to make sure we make at least the minimum, doing the standardized tests, making sure he has all his shots, you know, the usual paperwork. It also means he can maintain his IEP (Individualized Education Plan, it's what guarantees he gets the special services his disorder causes him to need, like physical and speech therapy) and that we get all the books and supplies we need, as well as a computer, printer, monitor, all for free.

We feel that the flexibility in scheduling (allowing him to go year round for retention) in education level (he can start with 4th grade math and 3rd grade english and kindergarten music, if that's what his little mind is ready for) and in pace (totally self-paced... if he flies through 1st grade in a month, we just move along to 2nd!) as well as the benefits of having a 1:1 student teacher ratio, will be best for our kiddo. Of course, that one teacher is me, so who knows, I could just ruin him. :) I'm sure some of you are wondering about the socialization issue, always a hot topic in the home school debate - he'll have plenty of it. There are many group outings among COVA students who are geographically close, as well as among members of the gazillion Virtual Academy listservs I have joined in the last week. He'll have a social skills class with other similarly unique kiddos once a week. So I think that will be OK. Some of you are probably also thinking... what about Kayla? Well, she will continue going to preschool Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons at Pueblo West Elementary until we move to the Springs in December. I'm also going to try to let her partcipate in Charlie's education as much as possible by using my vast (lol) preschool teaching experience to come up with some activities she can do while Charlie is working, that relate to his lessons.

What bout me, you ask? Well, I'm excited about it. Some of you know that I always wanted to homeschool my kids in the first place,(that's what working in public schools did for me) and had thought that Charlie's special needs wouldn't give me the opportunity. Since with this program Charlie will have a general ed and a special ed teacher that I can call on anytime for help, and will get his therapies from someone qualified, I finally feel like I am able to do it. I expect to be exhausted both physically and mentally at least in the beginning, which is why some of my posts here may just be long rants... especially since I am going to be updating after the kids go to bed, when I am not at my best! I'm also planning for Labor Day to be my last day smoking, and Todd leaves for a 2 week work trip on the 11th, so starting this plan on the 12th may not be the brightest idea I've ever had, but I want him to start as soon as possible so that changing his entire education process doesn't happen too close to the move... the poor kid can't take that much life upheaval in a short amount of time.

If any of you want to check out the school, the website is www.covcs.org. If you want to see the cirriculum we'll be using, and some sample lessons, that website is www.k12.com.

Now, as for where we are at... we've done all the online enrollment, and mailed in the papers that had to be mailed. I ust got an email from the school today welcoming me to the school, so I'm guessing that went OK. I've talked to the woman who will be his special ed teacher, and I can't say enough good things about her. He's taken their placement tests, and I'm awaiting a call from a placement counselor to see where they want to start him. And we have his IEP meeting on the 9th. I am busy converting my craft/computer room in the basement to a classroom, except I got distracted by "hey, let's make a blog!" so I'd better get back to it. I'm going to try to send out an email each time I update here so you don't have to check back. Send me an email, or post a comment if you like!